I always look forward to fall

because of the changes it

brings- cooler weather, colorful

leaves, mums and pumpkins,

and the anticipation of outdoor

activities like fairs and fall cele-

brations.

Fall also brings another oppor-

tunity to join our colleagues

and make new ones at the an-

nual ALER Conference. This

year, the conference theme is

Building Bridges with and for Liter-

acy and will be held in beautiful

Corpus Christi, Texas on Nov-

ember 7-10. Registration is

open, the hotel is waiting for

your reservation, and we invite

you to come and learn with us.

Conference chair, Seth Par-

sons and co-chair, Tammy

Donaldson have invited three

amazing keynote speakers, as

well as researchers and aca-

demics from across the nation,

to share expertise and motivate

us to build bridges for literacy.

Saadia Faruqui, a Pakistani-

American is an author, essayist,

and activist who will talk about

building bridges between faith

groups and communities; Dr.

David Kirkland, a leading na-

tional scholar and advocate,

will help us envision bridges

advocating for educational

justice for vulnerable youth;

and Matt de la Peña, Newbery

Medal-winning young adult

author will share motivating

story of literacy learning that

bridges a generation. Come

join us in building bridges with

and for literacy!

President’s Message

You spoke. We listened. Based upon mem-bership feedback we have lots of changes coming to the 2019 ALER conference. See p. 4 for details of conference highlights and a description of some changes.

Make sure you book your travel for Thurs-day-Sunday. We have three amazing keynote speakers, a plethora of fabulous sessions, and a variety of special events—all in beauti-ful Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast. We look forward to seeing you there!

ALER Conference Highlights and Updates

Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers

Summer/Fall 2019

Volume 44, Issue 2

President's Message 1

ALER Conference High-lights and Updates

1

Clinical Division 2

Adult Learning Division 2

Teacher Education Division

3

College Literacy Division 3

ALER Conference High-lights and Updates (con’t)

4

Research Committee Up-dates

4

Reading Room and 2018

Award Winners

5

Inside this issue:

Executive Officers:

Connie Briggs, President

CBriggs1@twu.edu

Seth Parsons. President-Elect

sparsons5@gmu.edu

Tammy Francis Donaldson, Vice-

President

tdonaldson@delmar.edu

Tami Craft Al-Hazza, Past-President alerpastprez@gmail.com

David Paige, Past-Past President

dpaige@bellarmine.edu

Ashlee Horton, Executive Secretar-y/Webmaster

drashleehorton@gmail.com

April Blakely, Business Manager/

Treasurer

april.blakely@eku.edu

Connie Briggs, President

Seth Parsons,

Conference Chair

Tammy Donaldson,

Conference Co-Chair

Don’t Forget:

Early Bird conference rates

end on October 1!

We have an exciting program planned for you from 1:15 to 2:50 p.m. on Friday, Novem-ber 8. We had breakfast with the stars during our session last year, and this year leaders in literacy will share insights for literacy learning in the clinic and practi-cal classroom experiences while we enjoy afternoon snacks. We will open our session with a key-note presentation on bridges to personalized learning, and lead-ers in literacy will share their insights during roundtable ses-sions. Please plan to join us as we celebrate learning opportuni-ties and share innovative ideas for the clinic and the classroom. We will elect a new secretary for the Division and discuss the results of the 2018 ALER Divi-sion Survey along with proposed changes to the divisions after

our roundtable session. Before our meeting, please review the description of the Literacy Intervention Division (Previously Clinical). The Ex-ecutive Board would like to have comments from mem-bers, and we will discuss these updates during the fall meeting. Literacy Intervention (previously Clinical):

The Literacy Intervention Division shall support the advancement of understanding of diverse learners and learning pro-cesses at the clinical, diagnostic, instructional, and administrative levels within the professional field of literacy, including technological applications.

It will be great to see you dur-

ing our conference in Corpus

Christi! If you have any ques-

tions about the Clinical Divi-

sion, contact Debra Coffey,

Chair, at

dcoffey1@kennesaw.edu .

Debra Coffey, Chair Cindy Jones, Chair-Elect Julie Francis, Secretary

Clinical Division—Now Literacy Intervention Division

Adult Learning Division

In anticipation for the fall con-ference/meeting, the Adult Learning Division (ALD) team has been working on the meet-ing schedule. We will have a couple of presentations and a working session on a current project. We invite all to join us and learn more about the divi-sion! The Adult Education Division presentations and meeting will meet on Satur-day, November 9 from 1:15 pm – 2:50 pm in Bayview 1.

I hope to see you in Corpus Christi! For further information about the division, contact Chyllis Scott, Chair, at Chyllis.scott@unlv.edu.

"You don’t

have to burn

books to

destroy a

culture. Just

get people to

stop reading

them.” Ray

Bradbury

Page 2 Volume 44, Issue 2

Debra Coffey,

Chair

Chyllis Scott, Chair

Division sessions this year are spread across Friday and Saturday to limit conflicts

(and the dreaded 8:00 a.m. slot!)

Dianna Sand giving her report at the Board meeting in 2018.

Teacher Education Division

College Literacy Division

The Teacher Education Divi-

sion is interested in teacher

education practices at the un-

dergraduate and graduate lev-

els, promoting improvement of

preservice and inservice pro-

grams for literacy develop-

ment.

The Teacher Education Divi-

sion meeting will be held on

Friday, November 8 from

3:35-5:10 in Corpus A.

If you have questions about

TED, please contact Patricia

Durham, Chair, at

pmd006@shsu.edu.

Following the Idea Exchange, we scheduled a time to discuss the results of the 2018 ALER Division Survey and proposed changes to the divisions. Be-fore our meeting, please review the following language on the proposed merger of the Col-lege Literacy Division and the Adult Learning Division. The Executive Board would like to have comments from members and possibly vote on these changes this fall. I encourage you to leave comments about these changes on the ALER Social Link or at this shared Google link: https://drive.google.com/drive/

folders/1gbscNTRXWMvXanr1wMInhE7IDifeNxCC College and Adult Literacy (previously College Reading and

Adult Learning):

The College and Adult Literacy Division shall advance literacy and student success pertaining to post-secondary, adult, and culturally and linguistically diverse learners, in-cluding effective technology integration.

I am looking forward to seeing you in Corpus Christi.

If you have any questions about the CLD, please contact Dian-na Sand, Chair, at dsand@holyfamily.edu

Since the Spring Literacy News update, the College Literacy Division (CLD) leadership team has been busy preparing for our annual fall meeting. This year, the CLD will meet on Saturday morning, Nov- ember 9, 2019, between 9:10 – 10:45 am in Bayview 2, Omni Corpus Christi. We have an exciting schedule planned for the meeting, in-cluding a guest speaker and several presentations for the Idea Exchange. Please plan to join us as we share ideas for best practice in our college classrooms.

Page 3 Volume 44, Issue 2

Patricia Durham, Chair

Dianna Sand, Chair

Roundtables at the 2018 ALER conference in Louisville.

George Ella Lyon signing books at the 2018 conference.

Research Committee Update

ALER Conference Highlights and Updates— Continued from P. 1

We begin the conference Thursday evening with opening speaker, Saadia Faruqi, who is a children’s book author and an inter-faith activist. Her talk is followed by our welcoming

reception!

Friday our midday speaker is Newbery Award winning author Matt de la Peña.

The Graduate Student Poster session has been moved to Friday evening, right before the New Member Meet-and-Greet, which replaces the Friday night event.

Saturday morning will begin with the Legislative Assembly (no longer paired with the Presidential Address).

Midday Saturday includes the Awards Ceremony and Presi-dential Address luncheon.

Saturday night our fea-tured speaker is Dr. Da-vid E. Kirkland, a trans-disciplinary scholar and advocate for educational justice.

Greetings! The Research Committee co-chairs, Tracey Hodges and Leslie La Croix worked hard this summer preparing for the ALER 2019 an-nual conference and awards seasons. We re-ceived many applications for three awards: two J. Estill Alexander Future Leader Awards (one for an Outstanding Master’s Paper and one for an Outstanding Dissertation Paper) and the ALER Literacy Teacher Educa-tion Research Grant.

Additionally, we want to thank our wonderful reviewers who served on the committee this year! The award winners and reviewers will be recog-nized for their contribu-tions at the ALER Awards Luncheon at the annual conference.

If you have questions, need more information, or wish to be a reviewer for 2020, please contact Tracey Hodges at thodges@ua.edu.

Call for Applications

Encourage your mas-ter’s level students to submit their papers for ALER’s awards for out-standing master’s papers and your doctoral level students to submit their dissertations for ALER’s award for out-standing dissertations papers. Go to this link, https://www.aleronline.org/page/futureleaderscall, for details about the awards. Award winners will receive a com-memorative plaque and will be invited to present their work in a special session at the ALER conference.

The Research Commit-tee also reviews applica-tions for the ALER Literacy Teacher Edu-cation Research Grant. Please see https://www.aleronline.org/page/researchgrant for information about this award opportunity. Grant recipients will receive a commemora-tive plaque and are en-couraged to present their work at the follow-ing ALER annual con-ference.

The next deadline to submit applications for these opportunities is August 2020 so mark your calendars!

Thank you to our Reviewers for the Research Committee

One of the most rewarding experiences Leslie La Croix, Co-Chair of the Research Committee, has had over the past four years is as a reviewer for the J. Estill Alex-ander Future Leader Awards for the Out-standing Dissertation and Master’s Re-search papers, and the Literacy Teacher Education Research Grant. Reviewing these papers has informed her in areas beyond her own research topics and has given her pride in our profession. Would you offer your services as a reviewer for the Research Committee? As a volunteer, you will be asked to review applications in late August through mid-September.

Special thanks to our reviewers for the 2018 awards including: Sharon Pratt, Cin-dy Jones, Michael Manderino, Cathy McGeehan, John Ponder,Kent Layton, Allison Ward-Parsons, Maryann Mraz, Sarah Clark, Seth Parsons, and Wolfram Verlaan.

We also would like to recognize our 2019 reviewers including: Julie Ankrum, Eliza-beth Bemiss, Nicholas Husbye, Michael Manderino, Aimee Morewood, Evan Ort-leib, Julie Rust, Chyllis Scott, Pamela Sulli-van, and Chase Young.

We deeply appreciate their service to ALER and the donation of their time and expertise for these important awards for our new scholars.

Page 4 Volume 44, Issue 2

"Books are

uniquely portable

magic."

— Stephen King

There are no other sessions during Matt de la Peña’s address, during the Legislative Assembly breakfast, during the Awards Ceremony/Presidential Address, or during David Kirkland’s address.

Page 5 Volume 44, Issue 2

Display Your Book at the ALER Annual Conference!!

We will be reaching out to publishers in the coming weeks seeking donations for the 2019 Annual Con-ference regarding the Silent Book Auction being held at the Omni Hotel in Corpus Christi, TX.

If you would like to see your work on display and also be part of the auction, please fill out our Silent Auction Questionnaire at this link: https://forms.gle/otPTDCcBtKfWDcmS7

Please complete the form no later than Friday, October 4, 2019.

The linked flyer (https://bit.ly/2kDVcoo) has more information about the Reading Room this year. We look forward to seeing you in Corpus Christi!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Robin D. Johnson, at dr.robindjohnson@gmail.com, or Micheal J. Kessner-McShane, at micheal_kessner@yahoo.com, ALER Reading Room Exhibit Co-Chairs.

How Does the Reading Room Work?

ALER authors donate autographed copies of their re-cent publications for bidding in a silent auction.

Members also donate copies of favorite books they’ve enjoyed for the auction.

Members bid on the displayed books during the confer-ence to take home “great buys,” but also to benefit the J. Estill Alexander Future Literacy Award Fund.

So…how can you help?

Consider sticking a couple of books to donate into your suitcase.

Visit the Reading Room at our annual conference to find a great new text for a course or a copy of that novel you always wanted to read but never got around to. Bid on your favorites ($5 minimum, $1 increments).

Bidding closes at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. Please come by the Reading Room between 3:00 - 3:30 pm to see if your bid won! ALER accepts cash or check as payment on-ly.

2018 Award Winners!

Dr. Debra Coffey

received the A.B.

Herr Award.

Dr. Vicky Zygouris-

Coe received the

Albert J. Mazurkie-

wicz ALER Special

Services Award.

Dr. Robin D. John-

son was the recipient

of The Judy Richard-

son Literacy as a Liv-

ing Legacy Award .

Dr. Katherine L. Wright

received the Jerry Johns

Promising Researcher

Award and the ALER

Literacy Teacher Educa-

tion Research Grant,.

See you in Corpus Christi, Texas!!